Certification Programs

Introduction

PSPA Certification Programs have been developed as an educational driver, as well as, a formal method to recognize those individuals who have successfully completed one or more certification examinations.

Formal education when coupled with professional certification establishes a level of expertise within a field of study. When an individual becomes "Certified" they acquire a designation which further establishes qualifications in their professional ability, credibility, and opinion. Upon successful completion of any PSPA Certification, including but not limited to the Certified Security Officer (CSO), Certified Security Supervisor (CSS), and Certified Security Manager (CSM) program(s), members become authorized as well as encouraged to display certification acronyms, CSO, CSS, and/or CSM on business cards, resumes and after formal signatures within applicable business correspondence.

PSPA advocates that all Private Security Professionals meet all applicable federal, state, and local requirement(s) prior to any deployment for work. Additionally, PSPA advocates that all Private Security Professionals acquire and retain all requisite educational skillsets and hands-on field training necessary to lawfully, safely and effectively perform all general, as well as, site-specific job requirements, policies, procedures and best practices prior to any deployment for work.

As with all educational and/or professional certifications, continuing education and refresher training must be sought in order to remain current with today’s ever-changing laws, rules, regulations, and best practices.

Program Instructions

All PSPA Certification Programs (described below) are offered to all PSPA “Registered” Members.

To become re-certified after expiration, depress the below, Click Here - To Start Your Exam button.

For Best Results, maintain your Virtual Office (file folders) which includes your “Manage Your Account” and “Manage Your Biography / Resume” to ensure all information is accurate and up-to-date.

Endnote

Effective Career Development

Career development is often described as the process that forms an individual’s work identity. Career development is a significant part of human development and spans over an individual's entire lifetime, beginning when an individual first becomes aware of how people make a living.

For most individuals, career development occurs without any intervention from others. Most begin to think about occupational choices early in life, while others won't give the subject much thought until they are relatively close to seeking employment.

While most individuals go through this cognitive thinking process independently, almost everyone can benefit from expert career guidance. Advice from a career counselor or other similarly trained specialist coupled with applicable training and education can measurably improve chances of placement within a chosen career field as well as foster improved job satisfaction, overall success, and opportunity for promotion.

With this, people who are skilled and knowledgeable are the ones who are most likely to be hired, while those who don’t may not make it past the second round of screening.

For those individuals who made it, their overall abilities (more often than not) aided in their quest for getting hired. For those who did not, their lack of formal education, ability, skills, and know-how (more often than not) served as a barrier to getting hired.

Fundamentally speaking, those seeking employment or continued employment must understand the importance of career development. Effective career development aids in obtaining desired objectives, both during the job search and while employed. Effective career development can significantly improve the opportunity for increased employment longevity, promotion, pay, incentives, bonuses, benefits, job flexibility, and overall job satisfaction.

In the end, an employer’s objective is to maximize its human resources productivity to best achieve its goals. With this, on-going career development (weather employer provided or employee sought) aids in that outlook by ensuring the best match between people and jobs.

Certified Security Officer (CSO)

The Certified Security Officer (CSO) program is intended for use by all entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level personnel (Security Officers) who are not charged with the supervision or oversight of others. The program is also applicable to Employers and Clients who: own, manage, oversee and/or engage security programs, security personnel and/or life safety services.

The CSO program is a broad-based (14 Category / 100 Question) Vetting Examination designed to validate previously acquired industry knowledge and or knowledge that may have been acquired by reading the educational briefings contained within the program.

The CSO program is intended to set-the-bar with a consistent and minimum level of training & education regardless of, and supplemental to, any such lesser standard, or lack thereof, which may be required or endorsed by state mandate or company protocol. Further, it is intended to qualify a member's knowledge and base skills germane to the private security industry, which can and should be confirmed and/or developed by their employer at the time of hire and manifested further through new-hire orientation and on-going training & development.

The CSO program is available to all “Registered” Individual Members of PSPA. The payment of One Hundred Dollars ($100.00) or the use of a pre-approved Corporate Identification Number (CIN) Code is due only upon successful completion of the entire program.

Certificates of Certification are available immediately after receipt of payment.

Certified Security Supervisor (CSS)

The Certified Security Supervisor (CSS) program is intended for use by all entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level personnel (Security Supervisors) who are charged with the supervision or oversight of others. The program is also applicable to Employers and Clients who: own, manage, oversee and/or engage security programs, security personnel and/or life safety services.

The CSS program is a broad-based (7 Category / 150 Question) Vetting Examination designed to validate previously acquired industry knowledge and or knowledge that may have been acquired by reading the educational briefings contained within the program.

The CSS program is intended to set-the-bar with a consistent and minimum level of training & education regardless of, and supplemental to, any such lesser standard, or lack thereof, which may be required or endorsed by state mandate or company protocol. Further, it is intended to qualify a member's knowledge and base skills germane to the private security industry, which can and should be confirmed and/or developed by their employer at the time of hire and manifested further through new-hire orientation and on-going training & development.

The CSS program is available to all “Registered” Individual Members of PSPA. The payment of One Hundred and Fifty Dollars ($150.00) or the use of a pre-approved Corporate Identification Number (CIN) Code is due only upon successful completion of the entire program.

Certificates of Certification are available immediately after receipt of payment.

Certified Security Manager (CSM)

The Certified Security Manager" (CSM) program is intended for use by all entry-level, mid-level, and senior-level managers charged with managing, leading, or directing people, departments, offices, branches, and companies. Within the private security industry, a variety of "job titles" exist, which include, but are not limited to: Security Manager, Security Director, Project Manager, Site Supervisor, Operations Manager, Field Manager, Branch Manager, Area Manager, District Manager, Regional Manager and Company Owner/Operator. For brevity, each of these varying job titles is inclusive and germane to the CSM designation. The program is also applicable to Employers and Clients who: own, manage, oversee and/or engage security programs, security personnel and/or life safety services.

The CSM program is a broad based (200 Question) Vetting Examination designed to validate previously acquired industry knowledge and or knowledge that may have been acquired by reading the educational briefings contained within the program.

The CSM program is intended to set-the-bar with a consistent and minimum level of training & education regardless of, and supplemental to, any such lesser standard, or lack thereof, which may be required or endorsed by state mandate or company protocol. Further, it is intended to qualify a member's knowledge and base skills germane to the private security industry, which can and should be confirmed and/or developed by their employer at the time of hire and manifested further through new-hire orientation and on-going training & development.

The CSM program is available to all “Registered” Individual Members of PSPA. The payment of Two Hundred Dollars ($200.00) or the use of a pre-approved Corporate Identification Number (CIN) Code is due only upon successful completion of the entire program.

Certificates of Certification are available immediately after receipt of payment.